SculptureCenter

LOCATION

Long Island City, NY

COMPLETED

2014

CLIENT

SculptureCenter

AREA

11,800

AWARDS

AIA NYS Design Excellence Award

Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award

AIA New York Design Award

The expansion of the SculptureCenter includes a 2,000 square foot addition to the museum’s renovated original structure. The design of the new building honors and compliments the robust steel and brick structure of the existing building, a former trolley repair shop built in 1908. A series of sixteen-foot high Cor-Ten steel panels form the building’s new facade, more aptly establishing the building’s presence on Purves Street, addressing the SculptureCenter’s long time need for a better and more public entrance to the galleries. Behind this facade, a new entry court and entryway join the new building and the existing structure. The new building contains an entry lobby, a ticketing area, a bookshop, a coatroom, restroom facilities, and various gallery spaces. The new entry sequence allows for arrival, orientation, and a slow, curated revealing of the art, culminating in the spaces of the original building. In this manner, the full potential of the adaptive re-use of an old industrial structure is allowed by the nuanced and calibrated interventions and support spaces of the new building.